Jay Leno seems like a nice enough guy. Maybe it's that his schtick is built on his affability (as opposed to the more prickly mien of David Letterman), but he's always seemed like kind of a decent fellow. I have no beef with the guy.
But for the life of me, I have no idea how it is that he was able to be a success as a talk show host, much less one as legendary and influential as The Tonight Show. The man is not funny. At all. There are supposedly funny people I don't find personally amusing, but I get why others do. Not Leno. It is mystifying to me that he was such as hit as the host of The Tonight Show, particularly when you consider the titan of showbiz who was his predecessor.
On the other hand, Conan O'Brien is funny. I can understand why his humor may not appeal to everyone, but he's orders of magnitude more amusing than Jay Leno. (As is Letterman, for what's it's worth.) As the whole late-night brouhaha at NBC plays out, I find myself baffled that the man so much worse at the job has been offered the spot currently occupied by someone so much better. Particularly when much of the lost ratings are due to his lousy, lousy prime-time lead-in show.
Any Leno fans out there? Anyone want to explain his appeal to me?
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He Got Away With It
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I've sometimes been told that my animosity toward Trump and Trumpism verges
on the irrational -- "Trump Derangement Syndrome", as his most ardent
defende...
1 hour ago
Agreed.
ReplyDeleteAs much as Conan is funnier, though, I can't stand watching him. I agree that Leno is affable but not funny, and that Letterman is prickly and mildly funny. What I don't understand is how comedy has to be so severely watered down for network television. I mean, yes, I do, but...there are so many funny comics out there, and so much mediocre on t.v.
Sigh.